RFP and USP

Blog 5: RFP & USP

An RFP is a Request for Proposal.  Its often sent by non-profits, higher education institutions and government agencies and is a way to solicit competitive bids.  In theory, its meant to level the playing field and minimize bias, but it may actually undercut the creativity of creative organizations.  If companies require very specific submission guidelines, length and size limits on proposals, and overly strict rules and regulations, they may actually be restricting the character of the creative organization.  Isn’t that what they are hiring you for, to be creative?  And they will not be able to see the true creativity of the company because of the way the RFP is handled.

A USP is a Unique Selling Proposition, it’s also listed as a unique selling point.  What that basically means is what makes you different than other designers?  A USP is a combination of the skills you offer, the payment you require, the speed of your work, and your own reputation.  A USP is also sometimes called an “elevator speech” or an “elevator pitch.”  What that refers to is if you were on an elevator, how would you tell someone exactly what you do in just a few seconds, I’ve heard it should be 45 seconds or less, but the book says from the tenth floor to the ground floor.  A USP must be clear, concise, easy to understand, and just a few sentences or short phrases.  A good USP is critical in your marketing mix.  It also helps you brand yourself better because you have identified and understand exactly what makes you special and makes you stand out from the competition.

My USP would be that I help businesses create a clear, consistent, integrated brand.  And it’s a one-stop shop.  Studio 78 offers all of the creative services you need: web design, graphic design, photography, and video.

Protecting the Designer

Blog 7: Protecting the Designer

Work-for-hire is where a contract is in place stating the relationship between the designer and the client before the design is created, and where it is created in the course of employment.  In this work-for-hire situation, the copyright belongs to the company, not the designer.  In order for this to be the case, the phrase “work-for-hire” or works made for hire must be included in the contract and the contract must be signed before work begins.

If a work-for-hire arrangement is not in place before work begins, if a client wants to retain all rights, the only way to transfer ownership to the client is by assignment.  This transfers authorship rights that will last 35 years.

Nondisclosure agreement means that a designer agrees not to disclose any information received during the course of work.  These agreements can be explicit and clearly state what information or areas the designer is restricted from disclosing.  Noncompete agreements state that an employee is restricted from working for a direct competitor.  These contracts or agreements are not clearly enforceable.  Because you cannot deny someone the right to earn a living.  But, all design firms could be competitors.  So these noncompete suits are usually only filed when there is a clear violation or a competitor has a clear advantage by hiring someone.

An example of a nondisclosure violation would be if a designer did work for a certain company and then did work for a competing company and gave people from the second company some sensitive information received while working with the first company.  For instance, processes used in the creation of a product, or a certain design method or other insider information.

An example of a noncompete agreement violation would be if a person worked at a foodservice company and then went to work for a competing foodservice distributor and used the customer list and price list from the first company to sway customers over to the new (2^nd) company.  This would be using information received at the first company to benefit a competitor, so it could actually be considered an example of nondisclosure and noncompete violation.

Creative Licensing

Creative Licensing

What is the difference between Royalty Free and Rights Managed licensing?  Royalty Free means paying a one-time fee for a creative asset, and the price is usually based on image size in pixels.  The higher the resolution, the higher the price.  But you don’t have to pay an on-going use fee.  Rights Managed means that the agency contracted to manage the work (image, illustration, etc.) will monitor the use of the work.  The price is based on many factors and often will require on-going payments to use the item.  The formula used to determine price includes how the asset will be used, how long the asset will be used, what the distribution will be. 

When I went to iStockphoto, the way I determined the price was that I needed a Limited Run Extended License in order to resell the t-shirts.  I wasn’t completely clear on the pricing structure, but from what I could see was that each credit was $0.95 each, and for an XLarge photo, it would cost 20 credits ($19).  For a limited run Extended License, it costs 125 credits ($118.75).  So I came up with a cost of approximately $138 for licensing of an image.

The question of how will licensing impact your career is an important issue.  Any designer that does not pay close attention to licensing issues is leaving him/herself-as well as his clients-open to serious liability and legal issues.  In this time of images everywhere and the openness of the internet, ownership and creative copyright is a hot topic and big place of contention.  As designers, we want our own original work to be respected and protected, and we should be diligent to do the same for other designers and creators.  Being careful about licensing is a way to keep the integrity of the industry, as well as our own.  Not to mention the legal problems and expense it can cause.

Contracts and Legal Issues

Blog 6: Contracts and Legal Issues

Contracts are really critical in running a design business.  Many creative people don’t use them, either because they are not familiar with how to create one, they want to have a “hand shake” kind of business with clients, or they believe attorneys are too expensive.  This is a huge mistake.  Doing design work for a client without a contract leaves the designer vulnerable to all kinds of problems, including nonpayment, misunderstanding of terms initially agreed upon, and serious liability and copyright issues.  

Creating a client services contract will protect the designer from nonpayment and liability issues.  A good contract will clearly state the fees, the timeframe of payments due, and will also ensure the designer gets paid if the client terminates the agreement before completion.  A contract should also explicitly state when the client gets the rights to the work, which ideally is after full payment is received by the designer.  Liability issues should also be addressed and define who is responsible in the event of a problem, who is financially and legally liable.

Using an attorney to create client services contracts is money well spent!  Like Mike Monteiro said in the video, a good lawyer will actually make money for you, and protect you from substantial financial loss.  In addition to protecting the designer from nonpayment and liability issues, a contract also positions the designer as a professional.  And a professional designer can command higher fees from clients than an amateur.  

Contracts also serve as a way to make sure both parties (designer and client) are on exactly the same page as far as what’s expected and when.  This helps to reduce or eliminate any misunderstandings down the road when the work has already started.  

Contracts and legal issues are not always pleasant things for a “creative” person to deal with.  But if you choose to run a creative business, it is critical to the “business” side of things.  Otherwise, you have a design “hobby.”

Your Career Path

Blog 2: Your Career Path

I agree with the author on several points.  However, I have decided to do freelance work rather than join a design agency, which the writer says not to do. 

I agree that joining an agency will give you several benefits.  It will help you learn to work as part of team, and that is important in every part of life.  It will help you learn to take criticism and critique of your work.  That is also an important part of being a business person dealing with clients.  A design agency is also a good place to learn about the inner workings of the design business as well as business in general. 

Some of the disadvantages to working with some agencies are that they are more “sell” oriented than “creative” and “design” oriented.  Some places also may not allow lower level designers to have contact with clients.  This will impede your experience in dealing with clients and directing your design in response to the interaction you have with them, and instead you will design based on instructions given by another team member or person in the company.  It is very important to learn how to interpret client requests based on your interactions, rather than designing by a set of instructions.

While I agree with most of what the article said, I will still decide to do freelance work, mainly because I have gained experience working under many different organizations in my work career.  Several of the companies did not have anything to do with design, but I got the experience that I needed.  I learned to work as a team player in the restaurant industry.  I also learned to listen and deal with clients and customers and respond to their needs.  In my sales position, I learned about having my work critiqued, and learned to take constructive criticism instead of get my feelings hurt. 

I have learned the inner workings of business and the design industry from publishing a Spanish/English language newspaper on my own.  I believe I have enough work experience that I can do freelance work quite effectively.